Beijing Eastern Petchem eyes 20-day shutdown at oxo-alcohols unit

08 October 2010 09:08[Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS)--?xml:namespace>Chinese producerBeijing Eastern Petrochemical Co will shut its 70,000 tonne/year oxo-alcohols facility for 20 days of maintenance on 12 October, a company source said on Friday.

The facility has a nameplate capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year of 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) and 20,000 tonnes/year of n-butanol (NBA).

Meanwhile, its main 2-EH customer, Beijing Huaying Chemical Co, would time the shutdown of its downstream 40,000 tonne/year dioctylphthalate (DOP) unit with the oxo-alcohols facility, foreseeing shortage in feedstock supply, said a company source.

Its NBA customer - Beijing Eastern Chemical Works, on the other hand, had turned to Qilu Petrochemical Co to secure feedstock, said a company source.

2-EH is used in the production of phthalate plasticisers such as DOP, and is also used in the manufacture of adhesives, acrylic paints and printing inks.

NBA, meanwhile, is used as an industrial intermediate, particularly for the manufacture of butyl acetate. It is also used in the production of pharmaceuticals, polymers, perfumes and as a solvent for the extraction of essential oils.